Travel back in time to experience any Flame Keeper's work. The most recent artists are at the bottom of this page.
About the Artist
David Leon is a Miami-born saxophonist, woodwinds player, composer, and improviser living in Brooklyn, New York. His work is guided by a persistent search for vitality through autonomy, contradiction, hyperbole, and humor. His work with the saxophone investigates alternate methods for producing a tone, refinement of these techniques, and development of a distinct vocabulary using these sounds; he melds this timbral approach with melodic and rhythmic phrasing from Cuban folkloric traditions, narrative playing, Free Jazz & avant-garde esthetics, and microtonality to reveal a personal conceit.
David's current projects include Bird's Eye, a trio with Doyeon Kim and Lesley Mok which will release its first recording this March 8, 2024 on Pyroclastic Records, and a double horns-guitars-percussion trio co-led with Adam O’Farrill, Locomotive. He is a core member of multiple ensembles including Lisa Hoppe’s Third Reality, Lesley Mok: The Living Collection, Adam O’Farrill’s For These Streets & Bird Blown Out of Latitude, William Brittelle MetaSimulacrum, Vicente Hansen’s Orlando Furioso, Tal Yahalom Quintet, Aaron Quinn’s Sunchoke, and others.
His debut album, Aire de Agua (released August 2021 on Out of Your Head Records) has been praised as “a splendid debut from a young saxophone player who, starting with the right foot, promises to make a name for himself in the creative jazz scene” (Felipe Freitas, JazzTrail). He has also released two albums in the Current Obsession series that documents improvisations with current collaborators. In addition to his work as a composer and performer, David is interested in exploring irony and dissonance through puppetry and other mediums. These explorations will be documented in his upcoming performance as a Roulette 2024 Jerome Commission artist at Roulette Intermedium.
